:: Frugal Fodder- ways I’m saving in my home ::

On January 2, I went with my daughter to the little grocer one town over (because we DON’T HAVE A GROCERY STORE IN OUR TOWN) and we stocked up on some groceries. I always shop at this store—but we found out right before Christmas that they were closing their doors on January 4th.  They were having a sale and everything in the store was 30% off at the register.
By the time I had gotten there it was picked over pretty well.
Apparently, the sale started on Jan. 1--


I bought several things for the pantry;

• the last can of baking powder came home with me
• along with a couple of packages of cornmeal, spices and salt and pepper.
• I also stocked up on some can soups and looking back probably should have stocked up on canned goods.  But didn't. The soups I use for various recipes and casseroles.
• I also bought some fresh fruit and have been eating that for snacks during the day.

They had a little bit of meat items—that I was surprised to see no one had picked up.  They weren't frozen—and seemed fresh enough, I put them in my buggie anyway.  I think no one wanted to buy the last 3 packages of meat because it was chicken.  I took a chance and bought it. I also bought a small pack of chorizo and some brats that were spicy hot Italian sausage.   I brought the chicken home and cooked it all that night; some in the crock-pot for later date and some for supper that evening.

I made homemade chicken wings for supper that night with potato salad.  Honey likes Lemon Pepper and I purchased some Teriyaki Glaze and had that on mine. I made enough for leftovers the next day.  We’re doing pretty well not eating out and using all the left overs is easy on the budget and NOT wasteful.

The crock pot chicken—ended up making a huge pot of chicken and dumplings (with cream of mushroom soup and can biscuits I had purchased).  I sent some of that home with my daughter for my son in law—she doesn’t make chicken and dumplings and He loves them.  Poor guy. The rest of the chicken went into the freezer for a quick meal later in the week (which turned out two meals for us). The broth I gave to Buster—to help warm him up for the cold weather we were having.  He enjoyed it.
I also bought a few things that I wouldn't normally buy at this grocery store.  But because of the reduced price—I went ahead and bought them.

• I bought 3 t-shirts for T.H.  they were 3/$9 and I got them for about $6.30.  He likes the ones with pockets –these didn’t have pockets but were thick t-shirts good quality; and he was still happy to get them. :)
• I also bought 8 rectangle storage containers (they’d hold a small child’s pair of shoes) …they were a good price for .70¢ ea.  I was already planning on buying some shoe boxed sized containers for the craft room.  This was good enough to mark them off the list!
• I took a chance on a sink stopper—I have the hardest time finding one that fits; with the discount, I paid .65¢ for it.  IT FITS!!!

On Saturday, we drove to Midlothian…it’s about an hour from here and picked up our venison. We spent more on groceries this month than we have in a long time.  We paid for  processing the venison.  T.H. has a friend that hunts; but he lives alone –can’t eat it all. T.H. can’t go hunting—so it’s a win—win for us, plus we take him some eggs too.
I was surprised that the processing came to about $4 bucks a pound—but I figure, I won’t have to go shopping for meat for a while or groceries of any kind. 

If we need staples, like milk or anything—we DO have a Dollar General.

I think we’ll be saving by not running the roads, buying gas, or being tempted to eat out like we do when we have to go shopping in town. So while the $4 a pound is a bit much for our budget.  It BALANCES out in the long run.

I've been keeping a pot of water on the pilot in the kitchen.   Rather than use the hot water from the tank, I've been using this water to wash the dishes after supper.

I’m still not using the electric clothes dryer-- (and still haven’t sold it, this will probably be the year for that) I've been using the drying rack inside near the wood stove to dry the clothes—when the weather warms up, I’ll go back to hanging them outside.  The wind blows so hard here—they dry in no time. After the freeze this week—it began to warm up, but the rain came.  Hanging the clothes inside is easy with a drying rack and the retractable clothes line in the utility room.

Turns out I should have saved the chicken broth for the cookies I made Buster today.  They called for chicken broth.  I had some pork broth saved from a pot roast…I had previously,poured it into ice cube trays froze them.  Popped them out and put them in a glass jar and back into the freezer.  
Anyway—I had just enough for a peanut butter whole wheat dog treat cookie.


I also used my cute little cookie cutters and created a homemade cookies for him;  I was already making some chocolate chip for T.H.  --so why not.
They both loved their cookies. 
I loved the fact I was able to roll those cookies out on an UN-cluttered Counter!!!! I’ll be back in a few days with the Pupster Cookie Recipe I got from my aunt…

If you stuck with me this far—bless you!  I really thought I had posted this Frugal Fodder post already…and saw it sitting in my DRAFT FOLDER!  I’ll try to keep them shorter. 
How are you saving in your home?  Share your tips and ideas… I’m always glad to hear them.
Here are a couple of places I’m reading for inspiration on saving money in my home.  Both chock full of little ideas that make a big difference! 

Tracy @ the enchanted cottage
Precious @ Frugal Makes Cents 2 (sorry link no longer works)

Til next time, Be Blessed! 



So teach us to number our days. That we may present to thee a heart of Wisdom. ~ Psalm 90:12